Australia to make paying tax a condition for foreign investment

[SYDNEY] Australia plans to introduce new requirements on foreign investment applications to ensure that multinational companies pay tax on what they earn here, the treasurer said on Monday.

"Where companies fail to do so I will have powers to take action, including ordering divestment of Australian assets," said Scott Morrison.

Australia has led efforts at the Group of 20 rich nations to close tax loopholes and is taking steps to tackle large companies over base erosion and profit-shifting methods of avoiding tax.

In December, Australian tax authorities took the unprecedented step of publishing the records of hundreds of companies, which showed they paid little or no tax on their in-country earnings.

REUTERS